PAKISTAN’S ANTI-INDIA PROPAGANDA

The same media and human rights organisations that once appeared to be captive to the Pakistan point of view have begun to report not only on conditions within Pakistan but also produced evidence of Pakistan’s support to terrorism.

Pakistan’s claim to Jammu and Kashmir based on the two nation theory has been debunked by history itself. The eastern wing of Pakistan, predominantly Muslim and carved out on the basis of the two nation theory, is today the independent nation of Bangladesh, liberated after a war of independence from West Pakistan. Even today India has a larger Muslim population than Pakistan, a clear indication that religion is not the sole basis for a separate nationhood.

The plight of the minorities in the Valley who were specifically targeted for extermination by the extremist groups, has now been well-documented internationally. The increasing criminality of many of the terrorist groups owing allegiance to Pakistan has resulted in repression of the Muslims in the Valley and expressions of outrage which have taken the form of demonstrations against the extremist militant groups as well as Pakistan. The Srinagar press is increasingly reporting intra-group clashes, rape, extortion and murder by different militant groups and statements from some of the groups highlighting the abuses by other groups.

Pakistan’s denial of the third option of independence to the Kashmiris ,and the repeated references to the "unfinished business of partition" with its territorial connotations, has caused concern to people in the Valley who, by and large, sided with groups espousing an independent Jammu and Kashmir. It has also exposed the fact that Pakistan has cynically exploited Western sensibilities and used human rights as a ploy to further its territorial ambitions.

Pakistan’s role in providing sanctuary and training to mercenaries who are involved in violence in France, Egypt, Tunisia and even the USA; their links with the extremist terrorist groups in Kashmir and the increasing fear of the spread of Islamic extremism in the West with which Pakistan is being associated has caused many countries to look askance at Pakistan’s protestations of innocence with regard to terrorism in Kashmir and its sole concern for the human rights of the Kashmiris.

There has been increasing activity on the part of people of POK and the Northern Areas as well as the Mohajirs and the Sindhis who are highlighting in the media and at international fora the repression that they have been suffering at the hands of Pakistan Government. For the first time since Pakistan began its propaganda war against India on the Kashmir issue, it is being made answerable for its own repression of its citizens.

At international fora also terrorism and human rights are getting increasingly linked. The UN has passed resolutions recognising terrorism as a major threat to human rights. Even Islamic countries have identified Islamic extremism and terrorism as a major threat. The links with Pakistan of persons and groups accused of crimes like the World Trade Centre bomb blast; the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; incidents in France, Egypt, and the Philippines, has made many foreign interlocutors wary of buying the Pakistani line on Kashmir.

The focus on the terrorist groups operating out of Pakistan and Afghanistan has sharpened after the United States bombing of terrorist camps in Afghanistan following the attacks on US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The American missile attacks on the camps proved that groups like the Harkat ul Mujahideen, the Harkat ul Jehad Islami and the Jamiat ul Mujahideen, which are active in Jammu and Kashmir, were also training cadres for groups which had targeted the United States and considered the West a legitimate target for their "jehad" or holy war. In the wake of the destruction of the camps, leaders of these groups in Pakistan have openly called for revenge attacks against the United States.